| vars | n | mean | sd | median | min | max | range | se | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Repeal.GC | 1 | 1500 | 5.24 | 2.93 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 0.08 |
| Gun.Ownership | 2 | 1500 | 4.30 | 2.85 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 0.07 |
| GC.Not.Strict | 3 | 1500 | 5.52 | 3.01 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 0.08 |
| Mean | 4 | 1500 | 5.02 | 2.53 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 0.07 |
A Politico-Psychological Analysis of Gun Control Attitudes
1 Study Characteristics
1.1 Items: Gun Control Attitudes
- Repeal all gun control laws and affirm the right to keep and bear arms (National Platform of the Libertarian Party, 2000)
- Gun ownership (Everett, 2013)
- Gun control laws are not nearly strict enough (Inbar, Pizzaro, and Bloom, 2008)
All items were asked in 9-point scale ranging from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 9 (Strongly Agree).
1.2 Samples
N=1500
To conduct a exploratory and a confirmatory large surveys during the general election, we hired a professional survey firm (SSI, a US-based market research company that recruits participants from a panel of 7,139,027 American citizens; more information can be found at www.surveysampling.com (now https://www.dynata.com/) to recruit a nationally representative sample of 1,500 Americans (50.7% women) who completed study materials during the general election from August 16-September 9, 2016. (Information about sampling and exclusion criteria is included in the Supplement). The age distribution was as follows: 18-24 (12.9%), 25-34 (17.6%), 35-44 (17.5%), 45-54 (19.5%), 55-65 (15.6%) and older than 65 (16.9%). The ethnic breakdown was: White/European American (82.5%), Black/African American (7.7%), Latino (5.9%) and “Other” (4.0%). Concerning religion, 67.6% identified as Christian, 17.1% as religiously affiliated but not Christian, and 15.3% as Atheist/Agnostic. With respect to education 35.1% indicated “high school only or lower,” 31.4 % indicated “some college,” and 33.6% indicated having received a “Bachelor” or “Graduate” degree. 2424 participants were directed to the survey,1885 of which finished the survey (attrition rate 22%).
We followed recommendations to minimize the problem of careless responding in online studies. Specifically, we employed 10 random attention questions and time controls to check for data quality. There were 385 participants who failed more than one attention check or finished the survey in under ~22 minutes and were therefore excluded from the sample. For the 1500 participants who successfully finished the survey, completion time was 67 minutes on average (MD: 51min).
N=2119
Also through SSI we also recruited 2,119 American adults (21.5% women), who completed study materials from August 20-September 13, 2016. (Information about sampling and exclusion criteria is included in the Supplement). Age was distributed as follows: 18-24 (9.1%), 25-34 (13.8%), 35-44 (11.4%), 45-54 (2.7%), 55-65(3.6%), 65 and older (59.3%). The ethnic breakdown was: White/European American (85.9%), Black/African American (5.1%), Latino (4.1%), and “Other” (5.0%). In terms of religion, 70.7% identified as Christian, 15.7% as religiously affiliated but not Christian, and 13.7% as Atheist/Agnostic. With respect to educational status, 16.2% chose “high school or lower,” 40.4% reported “some college” and 43.4% had attained a “Bachelor” or “Graduate” degree. The median income category was $50,000-$74,999. 3425 participants were directed to the survey, 2,262 of which finished the survey (attrition rate 22 %).
We followed recommendations to minimize the problem of careless responding in online studies (Meade & Craig, 2012). Specifically, we employed 10 random attention questions and time controls to check for data quality. There were 543 participants who failed more than one attention check or finished the survey in under ~22 minutes and were therefore excluded from the sample. For the 2,119 participants who successfully finished the survey, completion time was 92 minutes on average (MD: 57min).
2 Descriptives
2.1 Means, SD, Range, & SE
2.2 Proportions
2.3 Distributions
2.4 Correlations
3 Demographics
3.2 Gender
| Gender | N | Mean | SD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 740 | -0.15 | 1.00 |
| Female | 760 | 0.15 | 0.97 |
3.3 Age
| Age | N | Mean | SD |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18-24 years | 193 | 0.01 | 0.94 |
| 25-34 years | 264 | 0.16 | 0.98 |
| 35-44 years | 263 | 0.07 | 0.98 |
| 45-54 years | 292 | -0.02 | 1.00 |
| 55-64 years | 234 | 0.08 | 1.03 |
| 65+ | 254 | -0.29 | 1.01 |
3.4 Education
| Education | N | Mean | SD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Less than High School | 51 | -0.06 | 0.95 |
| High School | 475 | -0.14 | 0.94 |
| Some College | 471 | -0.05 | 1.04 |
| Bachelor | 310 | 0.15 | 1.01 |
| Graduate | 193 | 0.24 | 0.98 |
3.5 Income Levels
| Income Levels | N | Mean | SD |
|---|---|---|---|
| $15,000-$24,999 | 180 | -0.12 | 1.01 |
| $25,000-$34,999 | 176 | -0.07 | 1.03 |
| $50,000-$74,999 | 292 | -0.05 | 0.97 |
| $35,000-$49,999 | 227 | 0.02 | 0.99 |
| Less than $15,000 | 178 | 0.04 | 0.98 |
| $75,000-$99,999 | 192 | 0.06 | 1.05 |
| $100,000-$149,999 | 160 | 0.07 | 1.01 |
| $150,000 + | 95 | 0.17 | 0.97 |
3.6 Ethnicity
Note on the Okabe-Ito color palette The Okabe-Ito color palette (seen above) is a set of colorblind-friendly categorical colors available in R. We are using this palette for graphs with non-ordered variables (e.g., groups, categories) for accessibility.
| Ethnicity | N | Mean | SD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caucasian/European origin | 1237 | -0.07 | 1.01 |
| Black/African American | 115 | 0.50 | 0.69 |
| Latino | 88 | 0.28 | 0.88 |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 29 | 0.31 | 1.04 |
| Native American | 13 | -0.49 | 0.92 |
| Other | 18 | 0.03 | 1.02 |
3.7 Occupation
| Occupation | N | Mean | SD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employed | 768 | 0.06 | 1.00 |
| Retired | 268 | -0.14 | 1.00 |
| Unemployed | 146 | 0.11 | 0.95 |
| Parent | 104 | -0.22 | 0.98 |
| Disabled | 98 | -0.21 | 1.04 |
| Student | 85 | 0.23 | 1.02 |
| Full-time caregiver | 31 | 0.08 | 0.87 |
3.8 Area
| Area | N | Mean | SD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban | 955 | 0.15 | 0.97 |
| Rural | 545 | -0.26 | 1.00 |
3.9 Religious Affiliation
| Religious Affiliation | N | Mean | SD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christian | 1014 | -0.15 | 0.97 |
| Jewish | 52 | 0.66 | 0.97 |
| Muslim | 9 | 0.08 | 1.00 |
| Atheist/Agnostic | 230 | 0.36 | 1.03 |
| No religion | 195 | 0.15 | 0.91 |
3.10 Section Summary
(Coming soon!)
4 Political Behavior
4.1 Political Orientation
| Political Orientation | Social Political Orientation | Economic Political Orientation | Composite Political Orientation | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Predictors | Estimates | CI | p | Estimates | CI | p | Estimates | CI | p | Estimates | CI | p |
| (Intercept) | 5.31 | 5.20 – 5.41 | <0.001 | 4.93 | 4.81 – 5.05 | <0.001 | 5.48 | 5.37 – 5.59 | <0.001 | 5.24 | 5.14 – 5.34 | <0.001 |
| Gun Control Attitudes | -1.35 | -1.46 – -1.25 | <0.001 | -1.48 | -1.60 – -1.36 | <0.001 | -1.39 | -1.51 – -1.28 | <0.001 | -1.41 | -1.51 – -1.31 | <0.001 |
| Observations | 1500 | 1500 | 1500 | 1500 | ||||||||
| R2 / R2 adjusted | 0.304 / 0.304 | 0.288 / 0.288 | 0.280 / 0.280 | 0.338 / 0.338 | ||||||||
| Political Orientation | Social Political Orientation | Economic Political Orientation | Composite Political Orientation | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Predictors | Estimates | CI | p | Estimates | CI | p | Estimates | CI | p | Estimates | CI | p |
| (Intercept) | 5.06 | 4.63 – 5.48 | <0.001 | 4.61 | 4.15 – 5.08 | <0.001 | 5.20 | 4.72 – 5.68 | <0.001 | 4.96 | 4.56 – 5.36 | <0.001 |
| Gun.Control | -0.44 | -0.48 – -0.40 | <0.001 | -0.45 | -0.49 – -0.41 | <0.001 | -0.50 | -0.54 – -0.45 | <0.001 | -0.46 | -0.50 – -0.43 | <0.001 |
| Age | 0.18 | 0.12 – 0.24 | <0.001 | 0.18 | 0.12 – 0.25 | <0.001 | 0.19 | 0.12 – 0.26 | <0.001 | 0.18 | 0.13 – 0.24 | <0.001 |
| Income | 0.09 | 0.04 – 0.14 | 0.001 | 0.00 | -0.06 – 0.06 | 0.948 | 0.14 | 0.08 – 0.20 | <0.001 | 0.08 | 0.03 – 0.13 | 0.003 |
| Religiosity | 0.27 | 0.24 – 0.31 | <0.001 | 0.39 | 0.35 – 0.43 | <0.001 | 0.18 | 0.14 – 0.22 | <0.001 | 0.28 | 0.25 – 0.31 | <0.001 |
| Education | 0.01 | -0.09 – 0.11 | 0.857 | -0.03 | -0.14 – 0.08 | 0.604 | 0.19 | 0.07 – 0.30 | 0.001 | 0.06 | -0.04 – 0.15 | 0.256 |
| Observations | 1500 | 1500 | 1500 | 1500 | ||||||||
| R2 / R2 adjusted | 0.429 / 0.427 | 0.453 / 0.451 | 0.371 / 0.369 | 0.474 / 0.472 | ||||||||
4.2 Religiosity
4.3 Religiosity & Political Orientation
4.4 Candidate Preferences
| Candidate Preference | N | Mean | SD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donald Trump | 444 | -0.70 | 0.76 |
| Hillary Clinton | 371 | 0.66 | 0.72 |
| Bernie Sanders | 362 | 0.53 | 0.85 |
| Ted Cruz | 122 | -0.55 | 0.89 |
| Jeb Bush | 83 | -0.05 | 0.91 |
| Gary Johnson | 68 | -0.30 | 0.79 |
| Rand Paul | 44 | -0.65 | 0.82 |
| Candidate Preferences | N | Mean | SD | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donald Trump | 444 | -0.70 | 0.76 | 1-9 |
| Hillary Clinton | 371 | 0.66 | 0.72 | 1-9 |
| Bernie Sanders | 362 | 0.53 | 0.85 | 1-9 |
| Ted Cruz | 122 | -0.55 | 0.89 | 1-9 |
| Jeb Bush | 83 | -0.05 | 0.91 | 1-9 |
| Gary Johnson | 68 | -0.30 | 0.79 | 1-9 |
| Rand Paul | 44 | -0.65 | 0.82 | 1-9 |
4.5 Party Preferences
| Party Preference | N | Mean | SD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tea Party | 68 | -1.14 | 0.58 |
| Constitution Party | 14 | -1.09 | 0.52 |
| Republican Party | 508 | -0.51 | 0.83 |
| Libertarian Party | 100 | -0.37 | 0.94 |
| Don't know | 90 | 0.03 | 0.86 |
| None | 120 | 0.08 | 0.86 |
| Democratic Party | 560 | 0.62 | 0.81 |
| Green Party | 40 | 0.70 | 0.86 |
| Party Preferences | N | Mean | SD | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tea Party | 68 | -1.14 | 0.58 | 1-9 |
| Constitution Party | 14 | -1.09 | 0.52 | 1-9 |
| Republican Party | 508 | -0.51 | 0.83 | 1-9 |
| Libertarian Party | 100 | -0.37 | 0.94 | 1-9 |
| Don't know | 90 | 0.03 | 0.86 | 1-9 |
| None | 120 | 0.08 | 0.86 | 1-9 |
| Democratic Party | 560 | 0.62 | 0.81 | 1-9 |
| Green Party | 40 | 0.70 | 0.86 | 1-9 |
4.6 Voting Preferences
| 2016 [Trump vs. Clinton] | 2016 [Trump vs. Clinton] + Supporters | 2012 [Romney vs. Obama] | 2008 [McCain vs. Obama] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Predictors | Odds Ratios | CI | p | Odds Ratios | CI | p | Odds Ratios | CI | p | Odds Ratios | CI | p |
| (Intercept) | 0.02 | 0.01 – 0.03 | <0.001 | 0.02 | 0.01 – 0.03 | <0.001 | 0.07 | 0.05 – 0.10 | <0.001 | 0.10 | 0.07 – 0.14 | <0.001 |
| Gun Control Attitudes | 2.22 | 2.04 – 2.43 | <0.001 | 2.21 | 2.03 – 2.41 | <0.001 | 1.75 | 1.64 – 1.87 | <0.001 | 1.64 | 1.54 – 1.74 | <0.001 |
| Observations | 1103 | 1148 | 1236 | 1206 | ||||||||
| R2 Tjur | 0.478 | 0.470 | 0.313 | 0.268 | ||||||||
Referring to plots in grid: Colors may be off - please advise.
4.7 Party Identity
| Donald Trump | Hilary Clinton | |
|---|---|---|
| Strong Republican | 282 | 7 |
| Republican | 166 | 24 |
| Leaning Republican | 58 | 7 |
| Independent | 17 | 16 |
| Leaning Democrat | 10 | 65 |
| Democrat | 27 | 129 |
| Strong Democrat | 4 | 323 |
4.8 Voting & Party Identity
| 2016 [Clinton vs. Trump] | 2016 [Trump vs. Clinton] + Supporters | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Predictors | Odds Ratios | CI | p | Odds Ratios | CI | p |
| (Intercept) | 0.46 | 0.24 – 0.87 | 0.018 | 0.41 | 0.22 – 0.77 | 0.005 |
| Party Identity (dichotomous) | 0.01 | 0.01 – 0.02 | <0.001 | |||
| Party Identity (dichotomous) | 1.89 | 1.67 – 2.15 | <0.001 | 1.84 | 1.64 – 2.07 | <0.001 |
| Gun Control Attitudes | 0.01 | 0.01 – 0.02 | <0.001 | |||
| Observations | 1103 | 1148 | ||||
| R2 Tjur | 0.789 | 0.765 | ||||
4.9 Likeability
4.10 Trump’s Likebility
4.11 Clinton’s Likebility
4.12 Johnson’s Likeability
5 Politico-Psychological correlates of Gun Control Attitudes
5.1 Ideologies and Partisanship
5.2 Populism, Nationalism, Nativism, and Patriotism
5.3 Political Psychology
5.5 Values
5.6 Pot-Pourri
5.7 Positive and Negative correlates of Gun Control Attitudes
5.8 Section Summary
| Gun Control Attitudes | Gun Control Attitudes | Gun Control Attitudes | Gun Control Attitudes | Gun Control Attitudes | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Predictors | Estimates | CI | p | Estimates | CI | p | Estimates | CI | p | Estimates | CI | p | Estimates | CI | p |
| (Intercept) | 7.66 | 7.33 – 7.98 | <0.001 | 9.64 | 9.23 – 10.04 | <0.001 | 5.16 | 4.66 – 5.67 | <0.001 | 10.29 | 9.75 – 10.84 | <0.001 | 8.71 | 8.22 – 9.20 | <0.001 |
| Social Dominance Orientation | -0.70 | -0.79 – -0.62 | <0.001 | ||||||||||||
| Right-Wing Authoritarianism | -0.89 | -0.96 – -0.81 | <0.001 | ||||||||||||
| System Justification | -0.03 | -0.13 – 0.07 | 0.568 | ||||||||||||
| Economic System Justification | -1.09 | -1.20 – -0.98 | <0.001 | ||||||||||||
| Gender-specific System Justification | -0.68 | -0.77 – -0.59 | <0.001 | ||||||||||||
| Observations | 1500 | 1500 | 1500 | 1500 | 1500 | ||||||||||
| R2 / R2 adjusted | 0.160 / 0.160 | 0.266 / 0.266 | 0.000 / -0.000 | 0.201 / 0.200 | 0.134 / 0.134 | ||||||||||
| Gun Control Attitudes | Gun Control Attitudes | Gun Control Attitudes | Gun Control Attitudes | Gun Control Attitudes | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Predictors | Estimates | CI | p | Estimates | CI | p | Estimates | CI | p | Estimates | CI | p | Estimates | CI | p |
| (Intercept) | 8.59 | 8.01 – 9.17 | <0.001 | 9.16 | 7.41 – 10.91 | <0.001 | 5.16 | 4.66 – 5.67 | <0.001 | 10.29 | 9.75 – 10.84 | <0.001 | 8.71 | 8.22 – 9.20 | <0.001 |
| SDO7_Dominance | -0.48 | -0.68 – -0.29 | <0.001 | ||||||||||||
| SDO7_AntiEgal | -0.82 | -0.98 – -0.66 | <0.001 | ||||||||||||
| SDO7_Dominance:SDO7_AntiEgal | 0.09 | 0.05 – 0.13 | <0.001 | ||||||||||||
| RWA_Agression | -0.33 | -0.74 – 0.07 | 0.103 | ||||||||||||
| RWA_Conventionalism | -0.48 | -0.94 – -0.01 | 0.044 | ||||||||||||
| RWA_Submission | 0.16 | -0.36 – 0.68 | 0.539 | ||||||||||||
| RWA_Agression:RWA_Conventionalism | 0.02 | -0.06 – 0.10 | 0.611 | ||||||||||||
| RWA_Agression:RWA_Submission | -0.04 | -0.14 – 0.05 | 0.382 | ||||||||||||
| RWA_Conventionalism:RWA_Submission | -0.00 | -0.10 – 0.10 | 0.956 | ||||||||||||
| RWA_Agression:RWA_Conventionalism:RWA_Submission | 0.00 | -0.02 – 0.02 | 0.964 | ||||||||||||
| SJ_Gen | -0.03 | -0.13 – 0.07 | 0.568 | ||||||||||||
| SJ_Eco | -1.09 | -1.20 – -0.98 | <0.001 | ||||||||||||
| SJ_Gender | -0.68 | -0.77 – -0.59 | <0.001 | ||||||||||||
| Observations | 1500 | 1500 | 1500 | 1500 | 1500 | ||||||||||
| R2 / R2 adjusted | 0.183 / 0.181 | 0.277 / 0.273 | 0.000 / -0.000 | 0.201 / 0.200 | 0.134 / 0.134 | ||||||||||
| Observations | 1500 |
| Dependent variable | facet |
| Type | OLS linear regression |
| F(1,1498) | 285.65 |
| R² | 0.16 |
| Adj. R² | 0.16 |
| Est. | S.E. | t val. | p | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Intercept) | 7.66 | 0.17 | 45.82 | 0.00 |
| SDO | -0.70 | 0.04 | -16.90 | 0.00 |
| Standard errors: OLS |
3.1 Social Class
Note on the Raincloud Plots